New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-08-21
THE MODEL OF THE THISTLE.
HOW SHE DIFFERS FROM THE GENEsTA
THE PECULIAR SHAPE OF THE SCOTTISH CRAFT
HER EXACT MEAsUREMENIs AND SAILS.


| HER EXACT MEASUREMENTS AND SAILS.
The Thistes exact have till to-day been
more matter OF speculation than certainty Her shape
also has dehed surmse aud the OF all concerned
has led to an amount OF theorizng which, while 1t has
afforded the shadowy satisfaction OF Barmecdes feast
TO It's orginatorsha great Captain
Barr, to the Thistles owners all who know ex-
actly how things The fact OF the matter is the
Thistle Is gay deceiver" writer in a British nau-
tca Journal shortly after she launched dubbed her
the champion fraud -; and certainly tho appellson
seems TO the point.
Appearances are deceitful in the OF the Thistle
Her greatest depth s about one-thrd from the
and her bottom shelves upward gradually from that
point to a depth Of not than foot
at tho bow, and the sternpost has i'm
mense rake. Her length over all is just
112 feet according actual deck and
looking at her from without would imagine this to
be the case The Volunteers length all lacks five
feet OF this As has already been published exclusively
in The TRIBUNE. her length the waterne is about
S5 feet as compared with S5 feet 10 inches In the
OF her probable rival Her beam has been referred to In
general way broad. The figures. which like all the
others now given come from excellent authority,
these: Extreme beam for deck amidships 20 feet 3
inches, at waerine about 20 The Volunteer here
| has the advantage, her beam measuring 90 feet on
deck and % feet at the waterine. Owing
TO her peculiar build, the Thstles draught varies
exceedingly At one-hird distance from tho stem 1t is
about IA feet and forward 1t only IL inches How
tremely slight Is the resistance she offers the
may be gathered from this
The real size OF the Scottish yacht may also be mag
ned from glance at her interior measurements In the
bow arc small closet and q water-tght compartment.
These occupy comparatively little space The forecase
is 1s feet long and tapers toward the bow that It's
breadth ranges from ii to feet The saloon-which
might easily be used dancing hall
is 30 feet long aud 1s broad. During her
Atlantic trip 1t used storeroom.
and when clear OF all the articles which Uttered t looks
like the saloon OF river Aft OF the saloon is
ladies' cabin the breadth OF which tapers toward the
stern so that its length ia feet and its breadth from IL
to feet The ceiling Of the saloon and cabin is feet
high and below there depth OF close feet, which
is occupied by sailockers.
Now "a 10 the Caledonan beautys racing spars. Her
bowsprit inboard i3 feet; outboard 33 feet
total l6 feet The Volunteers bowsprt out board is
slderably more, being 81 feet The length OF the Thses
from truck to deck Is 2O feet The lower mast is
counable for 7j feet OF that compared with the Vol
unteer's mainmast measurement OF only IS feet. The
Thistcs Opnasts total length 81 feet Inches but 3
be subtracod for the doubngs leaving 4teet
. inches, against 4s for the Volunteer. The
length OF the mainboom 10 81 feet inches
I TO centre OF mast The Volunteers Is
longer measuring s4 feet The length Of tho gaG is 40
feeL The yolunteers put 81 feet The mast stands
Al feet from the Cannon and IL feet from the tarsil
Tie Thistle has no keel in the common accepaton OF
that The nearest description that may be applied
10 her bottom is that 1t resembles trough filled with
lead. The sail Is accurately known. The main
sail has an area OF $500 leet ana tue Dig topsalI
measures 600 feet. The material OF which the racing
sails made has also hitherto been only surnised
For lgnt Winds the Thistle has SIX spnnaker and silk
10 opsa and her heavier sails are OF cotton. The
brecst aud tho beat possible description OF the shape or
the Thistle that can be given Is that she IS Just Ike
mussel-shell on edge
erlay and the big racing spar substituted FOR II which
projects about ten feet heyonl the tafrail When II Is
] V.rfaarr Nar. le huQ "A
fifteen feet. this shows that. she spreads an i'm
mensc mansail Nearly all he" running rggings Is now
Oh and she presents much pretcr picture than
she did when she was FIRST stripped after her ocean Voy
For the first time since their arrival Of the
Thistle received alfhoday yesterday aud many or
them went ashore to the sights. bat they win bo
careful talk freely about the Thistle Tomor
they will again resume scraping and vanishing and
making the Thistle look all taut" Philip Il. Low. the
southst rgger has Just rece, ed letter from Messrs
Brothwick Gilmer his Glasgow correspondents and
ship and yacht brokers and agents there which throws
some interesting light on the opinions prevalent there
with regard 10 the Thistle The letter Is dated August
SoTs h@T 9'' part o. 1t "n'n refers tue iA'' was as
full swing. one OF the owners told us that she was
this year you may look out for squalls will
have one next year that will There oniy two
she has got II you betting bet against your
vessel The writer's opinion when on board that tho
doing her very utmost oweyer We are sure VIII be
"A hard pull any way you tako H."
II IA wrlknOwn rule In yacht designing that In
crease Of beam must be compensated for by reduction
! OF displacement. Therefore IL Ia not surprs
ing TO learn that the figures make the Thistle
| a smaller boat below water than either the
! Galatea Genesta The Galatea's dis
placement is 1876 tons, the Gcnestas li0 and the
1histles Is placed at l35 tons Correspondingly
the Gslatea has 7S tons OF ballast the Gsnesta 70. aud
Thistle IA credited with IS tons. only hve tons moro
than has tho Volunteer. These figures indicate. as In
deed common sense would suggest that In the Thistle
the bge Is followed well cut. that hor body below
water Is not nearly full Is the Gaateas or Go
Destaa
Much ha, been said about the Thistle uot being rep
reentavo cutter because OF her extreme beam com
pared with that OF the Genesta and Galaea But II Is
only fair remember that theso boats the result or
racing rules. happily changed, which taxed beam
heavily. Mr. Watson himself mas said: - Where have
been untrsmmeed by the old tonnage rule have always
designed boats with fair beams" There many cut
ters In England built with Al beams 10 water-lino
length. about the proportions OF the Thistle but
| the tonnage rules taxing beam untitled them for
successful racing Doubtless some OF them
will soon come TO the front again
The Old Mosquito had - feet inches beam 10 90 feet
inches water line The Arrow. which tried conclusions
with the old America IN England had 10 feet nchos
beam TO rs feet inches water ne and the Florinds.
built In 1881 had 10 feet inches beam TO So feet water
line.